CVE-2026-72172

Last refreshed2026-10-17

Status: UPDATED | Advisory ID: CVE-2026-72172

Key Details

CVE	CVE-2026-72172
CVSS Score / Version	7.8 (High) / CVSS v3.1
Updated	2026-10-16
CVSS Vector	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
CVSS Prose	attack vector is local; attack complexity is low; privileges required is low; user interaction is none; scope is unchanged; confidentiality impact is high; integrity impact is high; availability impact is high.
Affected products	Linux Kernel

Vendor	Product	Affected Versions	Patch Status
Linux	Linux Kernel

Vendor

Product

Affected Versions

Patch Status

Linux

Linux Kernel

Subsystems	OT Supporting Infrastructure
Sectors	All Sectors

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:

mm/mm_init: fix uninitialized struct pages for ZONE_DEVICE

If DAX memory is hotplugged into an unoccupied subsection of an early

section, section_activate() reuses the unoptimized boot memmap. However,

compound_nr_pages() still assumes that vmemmap optimization is in effect

and initializes only the reduced number of struct pages. As a result, the

remaining tail struct pages are left uninitialized, which can later lead

to unexpected behavior or crashes.

Fix this by treating early sections as unoptimized when calculating how

many struct pages to initialize. (NVD)

Monitor Linux's web page for any future patch releases.

Source	Reference
NVD	https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-72172
CVE	https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-72172

Source

Reference

NVD

CVE